Elaine Clark

Producer

Elaine Clark is a Hoosier, and studied Folklore and Germanic Studies at Indiana University. She earned a Master's degree in Middle East Studies from the University of Utah, which included a year of academic research and work for an education NGO in the West Bank. In her free time, Elaine dreams about her former days as a rugby fullback, wanders the desert and mountains with her husband and stepdaughter, and, as a self-confessed history nerd, reads 19th century newspapers and census records for sport.

Ways to Connect

NPR is your guide to the best books of the year. With 374 titles for 2017, you'll find something that suits your palate. And this year, RadioWest made the list with featured links to three of Doug's great conversations.

Wednesday, our guest is Biblical scholar John Dominic Crossan, whose latest book explores the bipolar nature of divine violence in both the Old and New Testaments. On the one hand, God and Jesus assert messages of love and equity for mankind. Then suddenly, plowshares are beaten into swords and horses are up to their bridles in blood. Crossan joins guest host Elaine Clark to discuss whether God is violent or nonviolent and what the answer tells us about ourselves and the civilizations we’ve built.

The Utah Arts Festival is now underway, so #CreativeUtah No. 5 is the final challenge in our creativity series. We've partnered with the Festival to inspire you to see the art around you. This week, we're asking you to find "Unintentional Art." We were inspired by Davy Rothbart, creator of Found Magazine. The idea of the magazine is simple, they collect and publish stuff that readers have found and sent into them - notes, photos, cards, whatever. Rothbart says it's a way to connect to people we share the world with. RadioWest producer Elaine Clark spoke with him.

When journalist Maziar Bahari was arrested following his coverage of Iran’s 2009 election, he figured he’d be released quickly. He saw his work as fair and focused on helping the West understand Iran. But the government charged him as a spy, with “evidence” that included everything from his reporting to a satirical interview with The Daily Show. Bahari is in Utah, and joins guest host Elaine Clark to talk about his months in prison and to explain how his torturer became a vicious muse.

Tuesday on RadioWest, we're telling the strange story of an 18th century experiment in education. Thomas Day was a wealthy poet and philosopher who ran in all the right circles, but he also dressed terribly, could hijack a conversation and had extreme ideas about women, even for the time. Not surprisingly, he didn't have a lot of luck with the ladies … so he decided the only way to find a mate was to train her himself. Journalist and author Wendy Moore joins guest host Elaine Clark to talk about her book How to Create the Perfect Wife.